WSJ: Clinton Aides Worried About Private Server Use From Get-Go

When Hillary Clinton asked to use a server set up for her husband in their New York home, aides worried privately about not only the likely "technical overload" but also fears of hacking, The Wall Street Journal reported.

While offering her privacy, the aides said they did not think that she would eventually use that account for State Department correspondence when she joined the Obama administration, the Journal said.

Now, with Congress promising deeper scrutiny of her conduct and with media digging to understand her motives in mingling her personal and private emails, which she defended was a matter of convenience, Clinton has been dragged back into her past where the family has weathered multiple controversies and perceptions that they are secretive, the Journal said.

The timing of the email scandal, it noted, could also not be worse as Clinton had planned an April launch for her expected 2016 presidential campaign.

But combat mode is normal for the Clintons, said one longtime associate, as the couple has weathered scandals flaring up over their decades of political life.

"They just have been burned so many times by these alleged scandal issues that then turn out to be absolutely nothing," said former Bill Clinton Press Secretary Michael McCurry, to the Journal.

"If you get burned that many times, you're very cautious and very skeptical about how you conduct business," McCurry said.

Clinton stood firm that she had not violated any laws as she spoke publicly about her email use. But members of Congress, already investigating the Benghazi attack, argued that they would seek a subpoena to determine if she got rid of emails the public was entitled to review.

Rep. Trey Gowdy, a South Carolina Republican leading the Benghazi investigations, said: "It is far broader than just some emails or documents about Benghazi and Libya."

Breitbart News reported that three Clinton aides used private email accounts on her private server while she led the State Department.

Among them were deputy chief of staff Huma Abedin. Additionally, her Chief of Staff Cheryl Mills and spokesman Phillippe Reines "reportedly used personal email accounts to communicate with Clinton. Whether they had emails on Clinton's server could not be verified," Breitbart said.

The U.K.'s Daily Mail said it tracked Abedin's Clinton email via a Lexis-Nexis search of public records. "Huma@clintonemail.com was one of several of Abedin's email addresses Nexis collected in conjunction with other public records," it noted.

When Hillary Clinton asked to use a server set up for her husband in their New York home, aides worried privately about not only the likely "technical overload" but also fears of hacking, The Wall Street Journal reported.